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There’s a debate taking place in the marketing world about the
nature of search engine optimization (SEO). Is it really a
distinct marketing channel? More importantly, has it become such
a business necessity that it’s unnecessary to measure its return
on investment?

While the first question understandably interests marketers, it’s
not of much interest to businesses, especially small businesses,
looking to allocate precious marketing dollars. The return on SEO
is where the rubber hits the road.

So is SEO a necessity? Or is it a marketing expenditure to be
judged on the basis of ROI?

It’s both.

SEO is, in fact, necessary in today’s marketplace. Potential
customers do not use the phone book. They use a computer,
smartphone or tablet to find what they need. Any business with a
website needs to be visible when a potential customer uses an
electronic device to search for its product or service.

But it’s also necessary to have people to provide that product or
service to a customer. Businesses are certainly interested in
employee productivity, and use various means to measure it.
Nearly every expenditure has an ROI, either in terms of reducing
cost or increasing revenue. SEO is no different.

The second is rankings, where a site comes up in a search. That’s
actually a rather difficult measure to determine. But there are
places to obtain it. Third-party companies such as Moz.com provide ranking data and can
demonstrate how those rankings change over time. Even Google
provides this information to webmasters.

The third measure is what we call “entrances.” This boils down to
how many of a site’s pages are receiving organic referrals. Of
course, the more pages, the higher the return.

Finally, the measure that means the most to most business owners
is leads, prospective customers who have expressed interest in
your product or service but not yet purchased. In most cases they
express that interest by completing a web form or calling your
business. How many web leads? How many phone calls? And,
critically, what is the cost per lead?

If lead measurement is missing from the equation, the first three
metrics do not matter. If the leads don’t meet expectations, and
the price per lead is not competitive with other marketing
channels, then the ROI is not sufficient.

Does that mean a business shouldn’t invest in SEO? No. But it
will certainly influence the amount invested.

SEO is like Facebook and other social media -- a must-have in
today’s Internet-driven consumer experience. But it’s a must have
that must show sufficient return to justify growing investment in
it. A reputable SEO firm can measure that ROI.